King of the classroom

King of the classroom

By Kristi Maroc

1 July 2010

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University of Sydney students were honoured to receive a lecture from His Royal Highness Raja Devashish Roy, the traditional Raja, King of the Chakma people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The students of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies welcomed the opportunity to hear from the King, who is trained as a barrister, human rights and indigenous rights advocate and an advocate for sustainable environment and biodiversity.

Dr Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Dr Lynda Blanchard and Associate Professor Jake Lynch from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies with His Royal Highness Raja Devashish Roy (second from left)

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is a region of south-east Bangladesh which stretches across approximately 13,000km² and borders India and Myanmar (Burma). It has an estimated population of 1.3 million according to UNICEF, around half of which is made up of indigenous people from many different tribal communities. The indigenous people of CHT have had a long history of conflict with the Bangladeshi military as they have sought to protect their land and communities from occupation and forced displacement. The Bangladeshi army has been accused of many human rights violations within the CHT.
In 1997, following 26 years of violent conflict, a Peace Accord was signed which promised the withdrawal of military, rehabilitation of displaced indigenous people, and resolution of land disputes in the region. Raja Roy acted as a facilitator during formal talks that led to the signing of the CHT Accord between the indigenous people and the Bangladesh military.

His Royal Highness Raja Devashish Roy with Associate Professor Jake Lynch, Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies

According to the indigenous people however, the implementation of the Accord provisions has not been acted upon since the agreement. The CHT Commission has been lobbying the current Bangladeshi government to take action and fully implement the Accord, a promise which was made during their 2008 election campaign. The Awami League government of Bangladesh was elected in late-December 2008, and promised a full implementation of the Accord. However, some of the worst violence of recent years has taken place in 2010.
Raja Roy's address focused on 'The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Process: Lessons for Peace Building and Accord Implementation'. During the visit Raja Roy also held a meeting with Director of the Centre for Peace Studies, Associate Professor Jake Lynch.
During his time in Australia, Raja Roy has visited Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney to meet with aid representatives, government officials and deliver talks at the University of Melbourne, UNSW and the University of Sydney.

Contact: Kristi Maroc
Phone: 02 9351 7009
Email: kristi.maroc@sydney.edu.au